Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Sorry if they were a tad OOC… Just wanted to see how far I could stretch reality.

Tezuka never cries

Tezuka Kunimitsu known as the stoic buchou of the Seigaku tennis regulars and strong leader. If you asked any of the Seigaku regulars, here is what they would say.

"Tezuka and cry? They don't go together! It almost saying I am on a diet!" (Momoshiro)

"Fshh, and that is never going to ever happen for porcupine head, because he will die instantly." (Kaidoh)

"HEY! You stupid mamushi! You're only meant to express your thoughts on Buchou not me!" (Momoshiro)

"Fshh… Fine. Buchou can't cry God messed up. Forgot to give him the ability to cry."(Kaidoh)

"There is only 0.0001% chance buchou will cry. Another 99.9999% that he will toughen up." (Inui)

"Saa… I always believed Buchou's tears ducts were removed when he was a baby." (Fuji)

"I have personally never seen him cry before. His smile is rare enough." (Oishi)

"Nya, I have the best theory! Buchou hasn't been eating enough sweets! Tea must have dried up his tears." (Eiji)

"You…You know… there is a saying. Some types of sushi taste better without certain ingredients. It is what makes that sushi unique." (Kawamura)

"Chiz, buchou needs to be buchou. Crying is mada mada dane." (Ryoma)

Now people would believe that asking the regulars would give you a clear indication as to if Tezuka would cry. But we have failed to remember that other than the regulars there is one other person close to Tezuka apart from his family. And that is Tezuka's one and only girlfriend, Ryuuzaki Sakuno.

Ryuuzaki Sakuno however gives a completely different picture of Tezuka. It paints him in a different light.

Kunimitsu? He does cry, but being the leader one has to carry his teammates forward. You see if a leader isn't strong enough, the rest of his members will fall with him. Being the one in the control tower is a heavy responsibility, and unfortunately Kunimitsu has to carry it. He doesn't cry when he is with them, he doesn't cry if he can afford to… But it doesn't mean he doesn't cry.

Kunimitsu cries every time he watched his members get knocked over, but instead of crying he places his sorrow into his tennis. He is always serious but that is how he cries, by showing his members just how good they should be. His tears are in his movements in the game, every time he hits the tennis ball with the racquet. Each hit is inlaid with his pain and his sorrow. His tears are in every hit."

Kunimitsu never cries in front of his team, and he almost never cried in front of me. But I saw it, I saw it when I was sent to look for Kunimitsu. That day was horrible, and the team was playing a trial and what was worse was their whole ego was defeated. No one wanted to play, horrified by the terror of their opponents.

It was a hard decision but the team lost that game. It wasn't because they lost that they were discouraged. These people played like demons on a battlefield. He watched every one of his teammates get targeted at certain parts. Each of them was supporting an injury that will disable them for at least one week.

I had never seen a more solemn sight… but I went to look for him. Convinced he would be somewhere cooking up a plan to fight back. What I found was Kunimitsu playing tennis. I noticed every shot he used were strong and most likely cause the opponent to run and play hard.

The wall nearly had an indent. I didn't want to disturb him, but I sat and watch him. His sweat running down his face and hands, he looks exhausted yet he still continued serving each hit like he had a lot more energy to spare.

Then… I saw it, the small tear from his eye. I saw it drop down and mix with his sweat, he collapsed right after. I ran towards him I could hear his swear and loose his cool.

"Damn…it! Damn it!"

He wanted to stand up and start again, but because of the last match, his knuckled was slightly grazed making it hard to grip the tennis racquet. I stopped him and begged him to stop. He looked at me, and that was when I saw the eyes filled with sadness.

Without his tennis and the incapacity to serve, tears were coming down from his eyes. He rested his head on my shoulders as his tears mix with sweat wet my shoulder. But I couldn't think of anything but the pain he is going through.

"I should have bailed them all… I should have increased their training… none of this would have happened if I was making the right decisions… I didn't keep my guard up… Why…"

I gripped his shirt and used my other hand to hold his head as I stayed silent for awhile as he lamented. I was pretty certain he wasn't use to being so open about his feelings, but without his usual output he needed someone to be there…

"It wasn't you fault. You knew that by bailing them out would hurt their pride more than if you let them play. You had faith in them, and that is what a leader had in his team. Training is already as good as it could get, it is just the way these people play…"

That is why I worry about Kunimitsu a lot. As a leader one must be strong for his team, so he can't make the wrong decision. Once he does, the weight of the guilt will fall entirely on him. He knew that, and that is why he doesn't allow Oishi a chance to step up. He worries about Oishi's capability to cope.

"Kunimitsu, a decision is always includes either you get it right or wrong. You can't just blame yourself on your decision now! The team needs you now ,so if you feel so heavily on one decision… it would affect your future decisions, you might hesitate to make the calls."

" Even if you think it was a bad decision, we all thought it was a good decision. I think if you did make a wrong decision the team should be mad at you. Instead they are mad at the opponents, and I am sure they wouldn't have your decision any other way."

He stopped making any noise as his arms crept around my waist. I was surprised at first but I watched as he slowly looked up. I saw the eyes I loved and know, it was the eyes of a sharp man and a man who could lead a battalion into war and not blink an eye on the responsibility.

"You are right. I apologised if I acted out of character earlier."

I smiled as I replied in a confident tone.

"When I said I loved you, I was pretty sure I meant the whole package."

He helped me up and gave a quick peck on the lips as he replied in a calm tone a smile on his face as his eyes sparkled just for a quick second.

"I know which decision I made right, and that was by choosing you."

We walked back together, soon he managed to get their feet planted back on track. If you wondered what happened to the team? They were squashed by the Seigaku regulars the second time round in the semi-finals.

So in the end we can strongly conclude Tezuka Kunimitsu is a secret man and only one person knows the whole story. Just to end our conquest we will place in what Tezuka said about crying.

"I won't let my guard down."

A small smile came through his calm exterior as we followed his eyes as he looked at the girl we just interviewed.

"With an exception to Ryuuzaki Sakuno."

End.